Isaiah jumped back and kept his distance from the man. Now that he was showing his true colors, Isaiah felt uncomfortable to face him. He knew from the beginning that nothing good would come out in associating himself with the man. If not for Major Linius, he would have distanced himself from the man.
"Do you feel alright?" Cygnus tilted his head to the side with a small smile on his face like he was worried about him.
Isaiah gulped before he gave the man an answer, "Yes, I am fine." He forced himself to stand straight to show him that he was really okay.
"Alright. Actually, my name is cursed so I advise you not to carelessly mention it. Just call me Rigel or master like the others do," he grinned and waved at Isaiah.
The young man frowned because he didn't understand why the other was waving at him. He shook his head and took a step back. What he wanted right there and then was to leave the place and for them to leave them alone.
Cygnus stopped waving and narrowed his eyes. "Are you shy or afraid? Don't worry I won't do anything to you, so come here."
The smile on the man's face unnerved Isaiah and brought shudders to his core. All of his instincts were screaming at him to run away. He wanted to but his body refused to move, it was as if he was nailed to the ground.
"I told you to come here," Cygnus's voice went down a few notches and the hidden threat made Isaiah move.
He refused but his body was moving on its own as he walked up to the man whose grin was from ear to ear. He could tell that the man was pleased with him but he on the other hand wanted nothing to do with this mysterious man and his entourage. His jaws were tightly clenched as he stood a few feet away from Cygnus.
"You are too stiff. Ezio was not like that when I first met him. He was a kid who seemed to have no problems at all." Cygnus closed the distance between them then he circled around the young man a few times.
He hummed while doing so and he was even looking him up and down before he finally stopped in front of Isaiah. "You really do possess that unique characteristic from those people," he was nodding his head before he looked back at his butler.
"Master, what are we going to do with those people?" Ezio asked after he successfully hauled the last man.
He came back and saw that Isaiah was silently standing while staring at the master. He shrugged his shoulders and instead looked at the master. Cygnus pointed towards Mr. C who was already on the move to relieve the people inside the dungeon from the prison they were in. Ezio nodded as he left to help the butler.
Isaiah was left behind with the master who was still looking at him with interest. "Now that you know who I am, I can't just let you go and I'm a person who doesn't believe in promises. I believe what I see."
The young Blackwell could understand the underlying meaning behind those words but he could still try his luck. "You can count on me that I won't be telling your secret to anyone." He tried to bargain, "I will treat this incident like it never happened and forget about it. Just let me go."
Cygnus shook his head with a smile plastered on his face. "You know that I can't do that. I do trust that you won't go back on your word but I have a different concern. Those people will soon catch up to me and I need a person who can help me drive them away."
A look of confusion appeared on Isaiah's face because of what he said. He did not know how to answer the man because he didn't know the reason why he was saying all of those things. He took a step back but he stopped when he saw the frown on Cygnus's face.
"I'm not negotiating with you. If you don't agree with me, I have plenty of ways to make you bow to me." He became serious all of a sudden that Isaiah didn't know how to react.
He felt that everything was going too fast and that he couldn't extricate himself from the events that were about to happen. He was not questioning himself if this was the right thing to do. To work for a person who could burn a person alive without blinking was not something he dreamt of doing.
"Should we make this a deal then? The Blackwell Dukedom is not doing well these days. According to my information there's a brewing civil war in that place because many of the families under the dukedom are in conflict with Duke Galahad Blackwell, especially when he is intending to name you as his heir." Cygnus divulged to him the information that the got from the network he created from his Vergessen bakeshop.
Isaiah shut his eyes after hearing those words. He had a guess as to why he was suddenly sent to the capital and yet he did not dare to question his uncle's decision. Now, his fears were confirmed. It was because those people were eyeing his uncle's position even though he was not ready to step down yet.
"If you agree to work for me, I can help you resolve your family's conflict. I can make those people disappear. It's not a bad deal, right?" Cygnus laid out his proposal.
His expression changed when he saw a crack on the young man's resolve. He grabbed the opportunity and did not let Isaiah think about it any longer because he might reject his offer once again. Striking deals was better than forcing the other party to work for him.
"What did you promise Duke Ginehart?" he then heard the young man ask.
Cygnus chuckled, "To kill the people who burned his son alive. They hid him away in hopes of sparing him from the fight of power within his territory and yet in the end, that son still died. Even Linius agreed to help me because of them."
This was a sign that Isaiah was already considering his offer. Once the deal between them would be settled, he would be able to rest easy for a while. He'll just make sure that Isaiah would grow stronger, stronger than those people. He could also let Nina train him. That was a good plan that he could immediately implement after Isaiah agrees.
Isaiah's mind was in overdrive as he continued to weigh the pros and cons of striking a deal with the man. He felt that there was not much difference from striking a deal with a devil. He raised his head and stared at the still smiling man. He was a devil.
"If that's all you want in exchange, then I'll accept the deal as long as you can promise me that you can resolve the matter of the Blackwells." Isaiah gritted his teeth as he let out a breath. He inhaled and exhaled a couple of times before he could finally look at the master. "I will accept your offer."
Cygnus clapped his hands as he moved forward and clasped the young man's shoulders. "You chose the right choice. I will make sure that those people who wanted to stain the Blackwells will pay with their lives. Just give me the go signal and I will go and destroy them."
Isaiah shuddered at the threat because he knew that there was a chance that the other would go ahead and do whatever he said. He felt the master's hand tightening his grip on his shoulder and giving him a seemingly warm smile. Cygnus finally let go and patted the young man's back.
"Now go outside and wait for the kingdom's soldiers to retrieve those mages. Linius and Duke Ulysses will also come. Once they are all outside, we will come out with all the rescued people and my greatest play will begin."
Isaiah turned around and watched as the man's back disappeared in the shadows of that dungeon. He took a deep breath before he stepped out to wait for the people the master mentioned.
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